Nov152008
Giving It A Listen
Filed under Music by Kim at 12:04 am on Nov 15 2008
You thought maybe you were going to get away with just my brief mention (and ludicrous picture) of the latest Genesis box set, didn’t you. Very silly.
Of course I’ve reverently read the booklet now; various personages’ commentary on each album. The one that struck me most thus far was Tony Robinson’s (you probably think of him strictly as Baldrick) description of sitting down and listening to the Lamb for the first time. At the time it came out. It made me try to remember my first listen to that album. I listened – what – in my car or something? On headphones while working? This is how Mr. Robinson first listened:
I first heard The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway on my new hi-fi, wearing headphones the size of soup plates, while sitting on my big velvet patchwork cushions.
Frankly I can’t remember the last time I received new music and listened to it without multitasking. Sure I’ve stopped to listen to old things here and there – mostly on vacations – but not something new. New things get put into rotation and filter into my consciousness from the background until I like them enough to rate them for the actually-gets-played playlist. Now really – what kind of introduction is that? Would I invite someone over just to hang around and watch me do stuff until I decided I’d actually get their email address and phone number and become real friends?
OK, sure, apples and oranges. But what music fan out there hasn’t thought of their favorite album as a bit of an old friend?
I definitely recall several episodes from my youth of going to Mother’s Records and Tapes (with the orange carpeting on all surfaces) and plunking down my allowance or birthday money in order to be able to crack open that new cassette, smell that new cassette smell, to read the fold-out on my way home where I would press play on my mediocre but well-loved stereo. I have lots of bits of memory of staring at those little plastic wheels reeling that tape in, or lying on the floor on the blue shag or the yellow shag letting that new thing – Timbuk 3? Sting? No kidding, Rick Astley?
You know, I had avoided planning anything this weekend (OK I am going to see (most of) Yes) but now I have a really good idea of something to do.
1 rackletangon 15 Nov 2008 at 12:24 am
Indeed! I used to have a very specific ritual that I would go through when I bought a new album. Now, well, not so much. Hmm…
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Kim Reply:
November 17th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
I often don’t even buy a new album anymore, I’ll buy one or two tracks to see if I like them, digitally. It’s kind of sad. I would love to hear about your ritual, you should post about it.
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